Of Pasts and New Beginnings
by littlemsstrawberry
Summary: It has to be her second mutation. It has to be. That is, if bad luck combined with some idiocy is even considered a mutation. She guesses that Birkhoff would have it too. She and him both. After all, that's how they have ended up on board a U.S. Coast Guard ship, in Miami Florida, in 1962. Erik/OC
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything. I'm wishing though, like everyone else._

 _Warnings: I think this story is rated M just in case for the future chapters._

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE**

Marianne often wonders how she ends up doing half the things she does and getting herself into these awful sticky situations. It has to be her second mutation. It has to be. That is, if bad luck combined with some idiocy is even considered a mutation.

She guesses that Birkhoff would have it too. She and him both. After all, that's how they have ended up on board a U.S. Coast Guard ship, in Miami Florida, in _1962_.

She isn't sure how they have managed to travel back fifty-four years into the past. Heck, she isn't even sure how they have come to work alongside Professor Charles Xavier – mind you, the _young_ Professor Charles Xavier, who is barely a few years older than them. Unfortunately, they have somehow gotten themselves involved and now have to stop a fellow mutant named Sebastian Shaw from wrecking havoc and starting World War III.

"I've lost Shaw," said Charles. "I've lo – I've lost Shaw. Th–There's something blocking me. This has never happened to me before. I think there's someone like me on that ship."

"Like you?" asked Moira.

"He means a telepath," Birkhoff interjects, not at all surprised.

"Yes, that is right. And this is incredible. I could actually feel her inside my head." For a brief moment Charles seems almost excited. "I'm very sorry, but I don't think I'm gonna be much help to you tonight. You're on your own."

At this, Marianne almost wants to lament in despair. Really.

How is _this_ Charles Xavier going to be of any help to them? This one has barely begun to grasp the full extent of his powers. Her thoughts, however, are interrupted as turmoil unfolds and she hears Charles and Moira swear.

"Oh my God."

"Jesus."

An entire platoon of coast guards, who was heading for Shaw's yacht in speedboats, has been wiped out by tornadoes generated by one of Shaw's lackeys. Having seen more impressive displays of powers back in their time, Marianne and Birkhoff remain unfazed at the sight.

However, the CIA agent in black – whose name Marianne has forgotten – gets worried. "Get inside," he ushers them.

Everyone follows quickly and she and Birkhoff do not protest otherwise. After all, the both of them do not have any offensive powers that can currently be used against Shaw.

"Stop, stop, stop," Charles abruptly halts and cries out just as they descend the stairs to go below deck.

"Charles? Are you okay?" Moira asks worried.

"There's someone else out there," Charles replies. Marianne meets Birhoff's eyes and frowns. Meanwhile, Charles rushes to the nearest exit, leaving the others to trail behind him. "There," Charles points to something in the water just as Marianne reaches the edge of the deck with Birkhoff at her heel.

A large metal chain rises from the water as it plunges straight into Shaw's boat. The chain takes the boat apart almost like how the kraken took apart the ships in Pirates of the Caribbean. There isn't much illumination to guide her but Marianne scans the dark waters anyway to see who is responsible.

"Let go! You have to let it go!" Charles shouts to the waters. It is then when she finally notices him. "You got to help him," Charles turns to, well, all of them – Marianne, Birkhoff, Moira, and the other agent. "You got to put someone in the water to help him–let it go! You have to let it go!"

"Annie!" Birkhoff turns to Marianne as he gestures to the waters.

"What?" she protests as he nudges her towards the edge of the platform.

"Hurry! He's gonna drown!" Birkhoff then motions to Charles. "I'll get him to open a connection for you. But you have to be there just in case it doesn't work or if he doesn't listen!"

Marianne throws her friend an incredulous look, as though demanding silently if he is being serious. Birkhoff returns it with an expression that says what-are-you-waiting-for. Muttering a string of curses under her breath, Marianne removes her coat and lets herself drop into the sea.

It isn't long before she feels the familiar sensation of her mind being connected to another. Looks like the young Charles has managed then. This trick is pretty handy for their missions; it has been done often enough back in her time, though by a more experienced telepath. Either way, it's too late to back out now.

It's almost like having a walky-talky in the head. All you need to do is to match the correct frequency and the other person can hear you. But of course, you do need some training in order for you to be able to build up your own shields. After all, you wouldn't want the other person to hear _all_ the thoughts in your head.

Unfortunately, Erik knows nothing about shielding and when she enters his mind, she is exposed to well – everything. She is in his head and it is so chaotic that she instinctively slams her shields down. It's almost like reaching automatically for that mute button when your device suddenly makes a sound in a quiet library. In any case, she can't hear him anymore. Though she does learn enough to gather his name. And his intention. Oh goodness. He is trying to stop a submarine!

With quite a bit of effort and a lot of haste on her part, she manages to swim to his approximate location. She can no longer see him because he has now gone underwater. Taking a deep breath, she goes after him, reaching for his arms. "Let go! You have to let go!" she starts thinking as loud possible. With her shields down she won't be able to hear him, but he should still be able to hear her. "Please, or you'll drown!" She tugs on his arms in an almost futile attempt to get him back above the water. She isn't certain how long more she can hold her breath. Running out of options, she tries to be sympathetic. "I know what this means to you, but you're going to die. Please, Erik, let go."

It is like playing a tug of war game with him – both of them pulling at different ends. She nearly loses hope when he suddenly lets his end of the rope go. By some divine force – because God knows she's not a very strong swimmer – they are propelled upwards. She welcomes the air back into her lungs almost greedily as soon as they break the surface.

But of course, her ordeal is far from over. "Get off me! Get off me!" Erik gasps as he shrugs away from her. The man's probably having a panic attack now.

"Just calm down!" she screams at him with her vocal chords, their mind connection somehow already broken – at this point, she doesn't really care. "Oh my gosh! We're here! Help us!" she shouts towards the U.S Coast Guard ship. "And hurry please I can't swim!"

"What?!" Erik suddenly interrupts her, sounding very incredulous. "You jumped in when you can't _swim_?"

"You were drowning and I wasn't thinking," she shoots back. "And I _can_ swim – sort of. I just can't thread water very well–" She then decides to ignore him as she concentrates all her efforts in keeping herself afloat. _Just keep swimming, just keep swimming_ the voice of Dory the fish chants in her head.

But perhaps he sees her struggling, because he then barks at her. "Come here!"

She does not know why, but she does as he orders, swimming almost clumsily towards him. He meets her halfway before he grabs her. Instinctively, she wounds her arms around his neck and he lets her cling onto him.

"Annie!" she hears her name being called and she looks up to see Birkhoff waving at her.

"We're here!" she shouts back.

At the thought of finally being rescued out of the water, she untangles herself from Erik. She swims towards the ship and barely makes it a metre away from Erik when she realises that nothing has been thrown down yet for her to grab onto. Feeling exasperated, she turns back to Erik and he once again lets her use him as a float.

"Who are you?" Erik finally asks her as they wait patiently to be fished out of the water.

"Marianne Stark," she answers from the crook of his neck, sounding very tired.

"You were in my head," Erik says quietly. "How did you do it?"

"You have your tricks and I–well," she frowns. "It's someone else's trick actually," she offers as she casts her gaze to some figure on board the ship. "But I have mine as well. In any case, we are all like you."

There is a long moment of silence before he speaks, "I thought I was alone."

She can't help but feel sad for him. She hasn't been in his mind for very long, but she's been there long enough to know that he was alone most of his life. He will not want her pity, that too she knows. So instead, she gives him a small smile – although he can't see it – and tells him, "You're not alone. Erik, you're not alone."

* * *

Miserable no longer seems fitting to describe how she's feeling now. She's cold and the men around are staring at her weirdly. Of course she knows why. Despite all the idiotic things she has done in her life, Marianne is no idiot. These men – or animals really – are obviously enjoying the view. Her white sundress has turned translucent from soaking up water, clinging obnoxiously onto her skin.

She tries to comfort herself by thinking she at least wore a nicer bra and panty. She would have been mortified had she been caught in granny underwear. She feels oddly pleased when she notices that Erik has positioned himself strategically in front of her. She could be wrong but he also seems to be glaring at any men looking at her too long.

Looks like there is hope for the male species after all. Speaking of which, her good old pal Birkhoff seems to have disappeared. It's pretty smart of him actually; all this has been his fault after all. He should have been the one to jump in after Erik and not her. Oh, she is going to relish in dismembering him later.

She is left to the privacy of the washroom, thankful that she has a spare change of clothes. As she towel-dries her mob of deep chestnut hair, she takes a moment to examine herself on the mirror. Her sea green eyes, her most striking feature or so she's been told, looks eerily luminous. _It's probably just the lighting_ , she thinks. And her complexion – oh gosh. 'Pale' does not cut it now. She looks ghastly, as though taking that dip in the ocean has removed all the colour from her face.

This really isn't her day. She looks like a zombie and she can't go home. She and Birkhoff are pretty much stuck here. The Professor is certainly not going to be much help. Although he has read their minds and knows them to be from the future, there is really nothing much he can do unless he develops another mutation to travel through time. At least he has let them both come with him – even though it's more like Charles needing their help than any to take down Shaw. But still, they really don't know anyone else to approach.

Everyone is already assembled when Marianne makes her way to the lower cabins. She spots Birkhoff loitering at the back and shoots him a look of displeasure of which he returns with a shaky smile.

It seems that in the time – it wasn't long, she's pretty sure – that she has taken to dry and freshen herself, introductions have already been made to the newcomer, Erik Lehnsherr. It also seems that he has already received the full-blown biology lecture on the next stage of human evolution, courtesy of Charles. She clearly hasn't missed much.

She catches the eye of Erik, who acknowledges her with a nod of his head. Charles is still conversing with him on who knows what.

As she makes her way to Birkhoff's side, she takes a moment to study the man she has just saved. Okay fine, technically he saved her too – she would not have been able to last that long in the water. But let's not get technical here.

It would be a lie to say that she is completely not drawn to him. Erik Lehnsherr is a very attractive man. There is just something about his chiseled jaw and those…haunting grey eyes. Well, given his state of mind, he is probably a haunted man with skeletons hiding in his closet. But who is she to judge?

"He's Magneto," Birkhoff whispers low enough that only she can hear.

It takes a while for her to comprehend, but when she does, she wonders why she has never connected the dots before.

Erik Lehnsherr is Magneto, one of the world's most powerful mutants. They have never crossed paths but she has heard of him; he's infamous.

Strangely, she doesn't see him as Magneto, the villain. She can't. All she sees is a man carrying so much pain and anger. Of course, he hides it all very well. It takes a telepath or someone who has been inside his head to see it. So what happened in his life that made him this way?

* * *

They arrive at the covert CIA research base well past sunrise in the morning. They take two cars – the ladies taking it upon themselves to band together.

Birkhoff is perfectly fine with this arrangement. Anything would be better than to incur Marianne's wrath. She hasn't really forgiven him yet, though he insists that there isn't really anything to forgive since he hasn't done anything wrong in the first place. But who in the right mind would want to argue with her? It's best to just let her anger her simmer down first. She cools down pretty fast anyway.

They meet a new mutant in the facility when Charles accidentally reveals him. Hank McCoy, otherwise known as Beast, is a researcher for the CIA. Birkhoff briefly wonders how his future idol manages to turn into a blue fur ball in the future.

But of course, everything else is soon forgotten as Birkhoff engrosses himself with all the computers and machines in the room. To a technopath, who comes from a far more advanced time period, this place is the closest he has to home now.

Birkhoff only vaguely hears Marianne telling him that she is off to take a quick nap and promises to find him later. He waves her goodbye before promptly attaching himself to Hank, ignoring Raven's look of annoyance at his intrusion.

Birkhoff doesn't really care. All he wants is for Hank to show him the latest gadgets the CIA has to offer. It has been so long and he has been so deprived; the technology in the 60s feels like the stone age to him. But he will just have to make do with the latest tech here.

Much to Raven's dismay, Birkhoff spends the entire day and all the way into the early night with Hank, tinkering with the various gadgets and machines. Birkhoff can feel Raven's heated glares as he monopolies much of Hank's time and attention. It is only after Raven's threatening reminder that he should find Marianne that finally makes Birkhoff leave, albeit reluctantly. He almost throws Hank a look of betrayal after seeing his new buddy's relief at his departure.

Wait till he tells Marianne, there is definitely something going on with Beast and Mystique. He trudges to Marianne's new quarters and promptly knocks on her door.

"Annie?" He tries again when she does not answer. He looks around the hallway, thinking that perhaps he has gotten the wrong room. He decides to enter and as expected, he is greeted by an empty room. The only sign that shows that it has been previously occupied is the unmade bed.

There is something strange about the tangled sheets that make Birkhoff walk closer for an inspection. He crouches down and looks under the bed.

"Shit."

 _This is not a good sign_ , he thinks. And he prays to all the Gods out there that Marianne is fine. Because the last time she lost control... No, he better not thinks about that.

This is Marianne's room alright and that is definitely her work. The blanket gone _through_ the bed and _into_ the floor. Quickly, he heads for the quarters directly below.

 _Nopes, not there either._ Birkhoff is sure that he is well on his way to a panic attack. He has searched _everywhere_ and Marianne is nowhere in sight. As he turns towards the front entrance of the building, he catches a figure just outside the door. He hears voices as he approaches.

He catches Charles speak, "I'm sorry, Erik, but I've seen what Shaw did to you. I've felt your agony. I can help you."

"I don't need your help," Erik retorts.

"Has anyone seen Marianne?" Birkhoff cuts in, not at all caring that he might have interrupted something important between the two men.

"No, I haven't seen her," Charles replies. "Is something the matter?"

"Hell yes, I can't find her!" Birkhoff is really quite above panicking right now.

"She was heading to the kitchen when I last saw her. Have you checked there?" Erik looks rather ticked off, as though Birkhoff is being overdramatic and wasting his time.

"Yes!" Birkhoff practically snaps. "It's one of the first places that I checked! And she's not there!"

"Calm your mind Birkhoff. I'm sure Marianne is fine," Charles intervenes.

"No, you don't understand," Birkhoff interrupts. "I think she might be in trouble!"

"We are in a safe place. No one is going to harm her here." Charles tries to assure him, which of course doesn't work. If any, Birkhoff only gets more anxious.

"No, it's not that!" Birkhoff pauses for a moment to take a deep breath. "I think something's happened. I have to make sure that she's fine. She'll be in really big trouble otherwise. She can't lose control of powers like this. Okay? She can't lose control! She just can't!"

* * *

 **TBC.**

* * *

 _A/N: Special thanks to my wonderful beta Goddessofwomen._


	2. Chapter 2

_Warnings: References to the Holocaust._

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO**

The entire place smells of death and despair; it sickens her. It's raining and she is being herded along with the rest of the people. To where, she doesn't know. These people are wearing strange garbs – the ones you would see in very old movies. As she continues walking, she looks onto the other side of the barb fence where people are shoveling. They are wearing something that resembles striped prison uniforms. Dogs are barking, people are barking. Soldiers – she realises – are giving orders.

She finally understands.

These people are on a death march. She's in the middle of a Nazi concentration camp.

She stops abruptly. But the people around pay no attention to her. Some even walk _through_ her. It should be no surprise, given her mutant ability. But these people…they do not even see her. She watches from the side as people are being shoved around and segregated by the soldiers. Distantly, she hears the cries of a mother as she screams for her son. The soldiers have separated them.

"Mama!" the boy screams as he tries to follow. "Mama!"

It is heartbreaking to watch. Two soldiers close the gates while another holds back the young boy. The young boy does not stop screaming; he struggles against his captors and more soldiers are called to apprehend the boy. Marianne has seen enough.

"Let him go!" She rushes forward and makes a grab for one of the soldiers. Her hand merely passes through, to her alarm. "No!" she cries as she makes a second futile attempt.

Suddenly, an unseen force pulls all four solders and the boy towards the gate. Meanwhile, Marianne has gone still; her body refusing to move a muscle. She can only watch as the metal gates bend to the boy's will. However, everything stops when another soldier knocks the boy out with the butt of his rifle.

She thinks this is it. This is where the nightmare will stop. She will wake up. But the next thing she knows, she is inside an office. The same boy is with her, conscious and standing right beside her.

"Understand this, Erik," a man behind the desk addresses the boy. "These Nazis, I'm not like them. Genes are the key – yes. But their goals? Blue eyes? Blonde hair? Pathetic." The man unwraps a bar of chocolate. He eats a piece and then offers the boy. "Want some? Eat the chocolate. It's good."

"I want to see my mama," the boy tells him instead.

"Genes are the key that unlocks the door to a new age, Erik," the man continues, ignoring the boy's request. "A new future for mankind. Evolution. You know what I'm talking about? It's a simple thing I ask of you," the man gestures to a small coin on the desk. "A little coin is nothing compared to a big gate, is it?"

Marianne watches as the boy attempts to move the coin with his powers. He fails.

"I tried, Herr Doctor," the boy says. "I can't... I don't–it's impossible."

"The one thing I can say for the Nazis is that their methods seem to produce results. I'm sorry, Erik." At this, warning bells – not the bell that the man is currently ringing – are sounding an alarm in Marianne's mind. Two soldiers enter the room, bringing the boy's mother with them.

"Mama!" the boy rushes to the woman's arms. However, their reunion is short lived when the man behind the desk gestures for the soldiers to hold the mother back.

"Here's what we're going to do," he says. "I'm going to count to three." To Marianne's horror, he opens a drawer and pulls out a gun. "And you're going to move the coin. You don't move the coin, I pull the trigger." The man then points the gun at the woman. "Understand?"

Marianne watches in anxiety as the boy attempts to move the coin again without success.

"One." Marianne holds her breath.

"Mama," the boy looks to his mother for assurance.

"You can do it," she tells him.

"Two." The man seems to be growing impatient.

The boy looks at his mother again.

"Everything is alright," she says to him. "All will be well," she tells her son as he struggles to move the coin. "All will be well."

"Three." Marianne jumps when the man pulls the trigger.

Marianne blinks a few times and forces herself to take a few shaky breaths. She is no stranger to death. But there is just something about this that just haunts her. She is not able to look away as the boy's power begins to manifest, crushing the small metal bell on the desk.

"Yes, wonderful!" the man applauds, finally pleased with the display of power. But the boy does not stop here. The boy continues screaming as he uses his power to crush the metal filing cabinet at the back. "Excellent!" the man says giddily.

But Marianne watches, eyes wide with horror, as the boy loses control of his power and crushes the soldiers' helmets on their heads. The soldiers scream as they slowly crumple to the ground. It's like hell has broken loose; metal objects are flying everywhere across the room.

Marianne shuts her eyes, hoping for all of this to end. She just wants to get away. Anywhere really, as long as it's away from this awful place.

She finally wakes up when she finds herself falling from the ceiling. Thankfully, she lands on something soft – another bunker, one floor below her assigned room.

"What was that?" she asks herself as she gasps for breath. It feels so real – the nightmare. No, it feels more like a memory. She has felt the boy's pain, his anger, his agony. She is rather surprised when she finds that she remembers everything about her dream. How can she recall it all so vividly? She never does for all her other nightmares.

It looks like taking a little nap has been a bad idea. She can't believe that the nightmare is bad enough to cause her to lose control of her powers. She clearly needs to walk this off and forget.

She phases through the door and walks along a random corridor. She wants to get out. This facility is starting to feel suffocating.

As she threads through the hall, movement catches her attention and she snaps her head to the left. To her surprise, she sees Erik. He is all dressed with his leather jacket and is carrying his briefcase. He looks equally stunned to see her.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"Going to the gym," he replies.

"It's that way," she motions to the direction she is heading to.

"Where are you going?" he then asks her.

"Going to make a cup of tea." At this, she almost wants to hit herself. Really? Is that the best she can think of? Tea? More like she needs vodka. Or whiskey.

"But the kitchen's that way," he reminds her.

"Right." _This is awkward_ , she can't help but think wryly.

Slowly, the both of them backtrack their steps.

She decides then and there that she shall indeed go to the kitchen. As she wanders halfway to her new destination in mind, something suddenly snaps in her mind.

 _He's the boy in her dreams._

* * *

Erik finds her in the kitchen in one piece and he crushes his urge to strangle the little weed (Birkhoff) for getting him all worked up and irritated. Marianne looks very much in control of her ability, whatever it is, considering that she is presently drinking tea instead of destroying the kitchen.

As he is about to turn around and be on his merry way out of the compound to track down Shaw, his sharp eyes catch Marianne's hands shaking as she holds her tea cup. Immediately, he is alert for any threats that an out-of-control power could possibly bring. But nothing happens.

Marianne takes a sip and places the cup back on the table with her unsteady hands, the cup's rattling the only sound in the small room. She then turns her head towards him, her brilliant green eyes meeting his own grey ones.

"Your friend Birkhoff is looking for you," he offers to break the silence between them first. He will never admit it, but her gaze unnerves him a little. Those large round eyes look as though they can see right through his very soul.

She almost surprises him when she points out, "You're leaving."

"I have to find Shaw," he finds himself explaining to her.

She nods her head, as though she understands. "He did something to you." Again, she surprises him with her perceptiveness.

"He killed my mother." He expects her to apologise; Charles did when he found out about his past. But she doesn't.

"You don't have to find him alone. Let us help you."

"I don't need your help." He has already told Charles this. And now he's telling her.

"Maybe. But Shaw has friends," she says, looking down at the cup as she gives her tea a little stir. "You could do with some."

Something about what Marianne said has struck a chord within him and he returns to the CIA compound the next morning. In some ways, she's right. Having allies against Shaw would be beneficial for his plans.

She certainly has a way with words. He came wanting to confront her on her control of her power – whatever it is. But somehow, she has turned the conversation around. She has distracted him – which is perplexing considering how single minded he can be – and made him stay.

That morning, he looks for her again. He finds Birkhoff instead and he is pointed to the director's office. It seems that Charles and Marianne have a meeting with a certain agent, to which Erik would probably have been invited had they known he had stayed.

No one notices him as he stands silently by the door. They are all but engrossed in looking out the window at the large white globe like structure on the open field.

"Hank turned that radar installation into a transmitter. It's designed to amplify brain waves, so it could enhance your telepathic powers, help us find other mutants for our division," the agent in black explained.

"What if they don't want to be found by you?" Erik chooses this time to intervene and everyone jumps in surprise.

"Erik. You decided to stay." Charles is the first to recover. He sounds oddly pleased. At least odd to Erik's mind anyway.

"If a new species is being discovered, it should be by its own kind," Erik continues. "Charles, Marianne and I find the mutants. No suits."

"First of all, that's my machine out there," the agent interjects. "Second of all, much more importantly, this is Charles' decision. Charles is fine with the CIA being involved. Isn't that right?"

Everyone in the room turns to Charles expectantly.

"No. I'm sorry, but I'm with Erik. We'll find them alone."

"What if I say no?" the agent challenges.

"Then, good luck using your installation without me," Charles says and Erik cannot help but grin.

* * *

"I, uh... I call it Cerebro," Hank says as they gather _inside_ the white globe. All eight of them – mutants plus Moira and the other agent – are called to be the first witnesses to the premier of Cerebro.

Marianne as well as all the other occupants in the room do not need telepathy to feel the excitement bouncing off Charles. "You–" Charles stops himself and _actually_ chuckles.

"As in the Spanish for 'brain'," Hank continues.

"Yes," Charles responds almost too eagerly.

"Okay, so, uh, the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof. When he picks up a–," Hank clears his throat. "–mutant, his brain sends a signal through a relay, and then coordinates of their location are printed out here."

"You designed this?" Raven asked, awe evident in her voice. Both Marianne and Birkhoff are also impressed. They had no idea that Cerebro was invented by Hank. The guy sure is a genius. Perhaps between Birkhoff and him, the two nerds can figure a way to get them home, Marianne thinks hopefully.

"Yeah," Hank replies Raven, looking very bashful. Charles moves to the platform at the centre and proceeds to put Cerebro on his head.

"What an adorable lab rat you make, Charles," Erik teases and Marianne cannot help smiling at the light jab.

"Don't spoil this for me, Erik," Charles warns.

"Oh. I've been a lab rat. I know one when I see one." At this remark, Marianne's smile fades. She knows too well the truth of his words. She has seen his memories.

She has had another dream last night – woke up halfway phased between her bed and the floor. This time, she dreamt of the experiments Shaw conducted on Erik as child to test the extent of his powers. She isn't sure she can go to bed tonight. Every time she goes to sleep, she will dream of him.

She really should be going to Charles about this. But she doesn't think he can help. Not yet anyway. He's still young and has not fully grown into his powers yet.

"Okay. Great," Hank says as he checks Cerebro on Charles's head. "Are you sure we can't shave your head?"

"Don't touch my hair," Charles says darkly.

Marianne and Birkhoff are not really surprised when Cerebro works; they have seen it in action before. Although, it's just a little strange seeing the prototype instead of the newer model they are accustomed to. Nevertheless, Charles manages to identify the potential mutants that can join their team. It has been decided that Marianne, Erik and Charles will be the ones to do the recruiting.

Their first mutant is located just a two-hour drive away from the facility. And Marianne can't help but to feel a little excited. Perhaps they are going to find familiar faces, albeit the younger version. But it doesn't really matter. Oh…and Logan! She knows he's born even earlier than Charles. So he's definitely around.

That evening, they reach the nightclub where the mutant is said to be working at. Erik pulls over the car at the parking lot and turns to her, waiting for Charles to step out of the car first. It seems that Erik has something that he wants to say to her.

"Yes?" She looks at him expectantly.

"Stay in the car."

"Excuse me?" _What did he just say_? Marianne stares incredulously at Erik.

"Charles and I will handle it." He climbs out of the driver's seat, ignoring her look of surprise.

Erik should give her some credit; she does stay in the car, but for only two minutes before she goes in after them. _To hell with him_ , she thinks. She enters the nightclub and nearly trips walking in.

 _This is what they call a nightclub in the 60s_? She has just entered a freaking _strip_ club! Women in lewd clothing are dancing on the table tops as the men ogle at them. Argh, men. They really are such pigs sometimes!

Suddenly hands grab her – not too gently – from either side and she resists the very huge urge to phase. After all, it would not bode well for her if she were to use her abilities in public. Thankfully, it is only Erik who has seized her by the arms. "What are you doing here?" he whispers almost harshly to her.

"The same thing as you are! Finding that mutant!" she whispers back.

"Women don't go here–unless they are part of the entertainment."

"Yeah, I just figured that out." Marianne almost rolls her eyes in exasperation.

Erik scowls at her and she returns his look with a glare of her own. "Keep close to me." Erik says with gritted teeth, looking anything but pleased. He leads the way, gesturing for her to follow. But when the other patrons of the club start turning their attention to Marianne, Erik promptly spins around and puts his hand on her waist, rather possessively. "Do not stray," the intensity of his glower doesn't lessen.

 _He really has stick up his_ a– she stops herself from completing that sentence, settling instead for an eye roll.

Erik sits her in between Charles and himself, though he still seems to be hovering around her. _Controlling much_? But Marianne lets him. Hopefully this will keep the other annoying men from coming near her. As Charles signals to Erik that the mutant they are looking for is approaching, Erik pulls out a hundred-dollar bill and flags it out.

The mutant, a young girl – Marianne notes with sadness, crouches before them as she takes the bill from Erik. _She should be in school for goodness sake! And not_ … Marianne sighs inwardly.

"For that, daddy-o, you get a private dance," she tells Erik.

Marianne is once again sandwiched between Charles and Erik as Charles walks in front of her to the private room set up for them with Erik flanking her back. She settles herself on the couch by the side while Charles and Erik pour themselves a drink and make themselves comfortable on the bed.

 _Really_? Marianne resists a groan. Erik and Charles seem to be enjoying themselves here a wee bit too much. Looking at the champagne on the table beside Erik, Marianne refrains herself from taking a swig at it. After all, one of them needs to be the sober one around to drive later.

"You cats know it's double for both, right?" The mutant girl finally enters the room. Her eyes flicker briefly to Marianne before she turns her attention to the two buffoons on the bed.

"Hmm. No, that won't be necessary," Charles says, "Although I'm sure it'd be magical..."

"We were thinking more," Erik adds in. "We'll show you ours...if you show us yours."

"Baby, that is not the way it works around here."

Erik snaps his fingers and uses his powers to levitate the ice bucket towards him. "More tea, vicar?" he offers Charles. Marianne instead wants to snap at him. _What about her? Is she invisible?_

"Don't mind if I do," says Charles. At this point, they have already gotten the girl's attention.

"My turn," she says. She then unhooks the back of her top and the tattoos at her back come to life to reveal her wings.

Erik and Charles look at her in amazement as she floats in front of them. _It's almost as if they have won the lottery_! Marianne almost wants to shake her head in disbelief. But she knows that it's more like they actually can't believe that there are others like them out in the world.

"How would you like a job where you keep your clothes on?" Charles finally asks her.

It doesn't take much convincing for the mutant girl, Angel Salvadore, to leave with them. And they all return to the car for the journey back to the facility.

"I'm driving!" Marianne pretty much declares as she snatches the car key from Erik's hands. It's all for naught as Erik uses his power to retrieve the key from her. The key flies straight back into his hand.

"No, I'm driving," Erik tells her. She frowns as she moves to stand in front of him and grabs hold his arms.

"No you're not! I am! You've had too much to drink!" she says, all the while trying to pry the key off his grasp.

"I'm hardly drunk!"

"That's not the point. You don't need to be drunk. I'm just not taking any chances. Besides, it's not like _I'm_ going to crash the car."

She manages to wrench the key from his hand and rushes to the driver's seat. As she starts the engine, the door of the passenger seat opens and Erik settles himself silently beside her. Charles and Angel take the seats at the back as Marianne adjusts the mirrors and turns on the headlights.

"Don't look so worried," she tells him. "You control metal don't you? Between your metal bending powers and my excellent driving skills, I'm sure we'll reach the facility in one piece."

"Why am I letting you do this?" Marianne catches Erik's comment, though he has muttered it under his breath.

"You know, your lack of faith in me is a little disturbing."

"Don't get us killed."

* * *

 **TBC.**

* * *

 _A/N: Another round of thanks to my beta Goddessofwoman._


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Mutant number two is a cab driver living in New York City. And after finding out that they will actually be flying there, Marianne becomes rather apprehensive and nearly sits this one out.

She hasn't been sleeping much; Erik's memories haunt her whenever she sleeps and cause her to lose control of her ability. She worries about the plane journey with her power currently tipping towards the unstable end of the scale.

But when she finds herself seated on the plane to the Big Apple, she comes to question her aptitude on making rational and sound decisions. Really? What is she thinking? Does she want to cause an inflight incident? Because she can totally imagine the headlines: PASSENGER MISSING MID FLIGHT!

 _It's just over an hour and a half_ , she tells herself. Surely she can control her powers!

It's probably the death grip she has on the arm rest. Or maybe it's the bags under her eyes. Or maybe its both. But Erik, who is seated beside her, notices that something is up with her and looks at her with a flicker of- _concern_? No, that's probably not it.

"I didn't know you were a nervous flier," he says. When she remains silent, he continues. "You do remember that I control metal, don't you? I won't let anything happen."

"No," she shakes her head. "It's not that." She pauses for a moment and clasps her hands together. "My power has been…unstable as of late," she admits. Erik goes unnaturally still at her confession, thinking perhaps that she's a ticking time bomb. "It's not what you're thinking," she hurries to explain, lest he gets the wrong idea. "I'm not going to explode or anything. My powers are not like that." She takes a quick glance around, her paranoia of being overheard is suddenly acting up.

"The worst that could happen is that I'll just simply disappear from this plane. Which will really just cause some problems. Can you imagine all the attention a passenger missing midflight will bring? You and Charles will have some explaining to do, although I'm sure Charles and his mind tricks can handle it. But I'd really _really_ rather not have an incident. I mean, who knows where I'll end up? I don't really want to walk all the way to NYC if there isn't anyone around for me to hitch a ride with."

"I hope that you realise that you are not making any sense to me," Erik tells her dryly.

"What? Oh. You don't know what I can do, don't you? I've never mentioned it before. Well, I–I can turn intangible. You know, walk through walls and stuff. Anything really. So if I lose control, I might just…" She shrugs rather nonchalantly, "…accidentally phase out of the plane, that's all."

Perhaps she is being too casual about it but Erik seems to have turned pale. However, before she can assure him that she's not going to go splat into the ground – she can just phase again and jump right back up, their plane suddenly hits a turbulence. Marianne reaches out instinctively and grabs onto Erik's hand.

"Oops." She quickly retracts back her hand. "Sorry about that," she tells him sheepishly. Erik merely gives a nod in response and becomes pensive for the remainder of the journey. Fortunately, they reach NYC without any mishaps.

* * *

"Over there," Charles points to the street where there are at least seven other yellow cabs.

"Really Charles? You'll have to be more specific," Erik says sarcastically.

Charles easily lets the comment slide as he darts across the road, leaving the other two to chase after him. _Do they really have to cross the street like this_? Marianne frowns as the three of them maneuver around the busy avenue. _He's gonna get them all killed._

She's being silly, really. She knows she can easily phase through any oncoming vehicles, not to mention the fact that there's a metal bender with them. But neither thought makes her feel any better following Charles around like this. So she promptly attaches herself to Erik, grabbing the sleeve of his leather jacket, so as not to get left behind.

Fortunately, Charles finds the particular cab before the lights turn and the cab drives away. He opens the door and slides in. Marianne slips in next after some prompts from Erik, inevitably finding herself sandwiched between the telepath and the metal bender. Yet again.

"Where to, fellas?" the driver, a mutant with dark skin, asks them.

"Richmond, Virginia, please," Marianne quips.

"Right, so you want, uh, airport, the station, what?"

"No, we were rather hoping you would take us all the way," Charles supplies.

"That's a six-hour drive."

"That will give us plenty of time to talk," Erik responds as he uses his power to move the cab meter. And Armando Munoz, also known as Darwin, becomes their second recruit.

Much to Marianne's relief, they do actually decide to drive back to the facility, laying over at the local hotel as night falls.

Marianne checks-in and collects the keys. "So boys, how are we doing this?" But before anyone can speak, Erik grabs both keys and tosses one over to Charles. Erik then leads Marianne away by her elbows.

" _This_ it is," Marianne mutters to herself.

Erik hears her and raises a brow at her. "Unless of course, you would like to share a room with either Charles or Darwin?"

Marianne throws him a smile and hooks her arm with his. "I think I'll share this one with you," she winks. If her willingness to easily go along with him unnerves him, Erik doesn't show it. "Goodnight boys. See you in the morning," she does a little wave with her free hand to Charles and Darwin, both of them looking a little lost.

Erik leads the way to their shared room, wasting no time in locating it. "Wait!" Marianne suddenly cries, grabbing hold of Erik's hand just as he is about to open the door to their room. He throws her an inkling look as she shoos him away. Then, knocking loudly on the door three times, she gives Erik a nod of approval and steps aside. "Okay," she tells him.

The expression on his face is one of disbelief. But Erik recovers quickly and walks past her. He enters the room and turns on the lights. "What was that about?" he then demands.

"My grandmother's Chinese," she offers as an explanation. She ignores his look of puzzlement as she takes a quick scan of the room. "I'm taking the left side!" Marianne declares. She then throws her red scarf on the bed as a sign of reservation. Once she's certain that Erik will not fight over the bed with her, she drops the rest of her things at the side and strolls over to the bathroom for her customary inspection.

She's pleasantly surprised to find that there's a hairdryer – albeit an an ancient-looking one that resembles a vacuum cleaner – attached to the wall. At least she does not have to sleep with wet hair tonight, she thinks gleefully. _The hotel can do with better shampoo though_. She picks up and examines the small bottle provided. _Gosh, and conditioner? Why doesn't this bloody hotel have one?_ Marianne briefly contemplates going down to a convenience store just to buy a bottle. But it's late and she's tired.

"You can take a shower first." She pokes her head out of the bathroom and calls out to Erik. But the metal bender seems to be preoccupied with something. What is he doing exactly? Checking for hidden assassins? Gosh, and Birkhoff says that she has it bad. But Erik makes her own paranoia look like it's almost non existent. She then thinks about her earlier actions. Nope. They cannot be compared. Paranoia and superstitions are not the same.

"You can take a shower first," she repeats when Erik finally turns to stare at her.

"Ladies first," Erik shrugs.

"I'll take _really_ long inside. It's best if you go first. You'll be faster."

"I don't mind the wait."

"Well I do!" she says, a little exasperated. "I mean, I'll feel bad otherwise and then I'll have to rush my shower. So I really rather you go first."

"Fine." Erik concedes, picking up his things before he heads to the bathroom.

"Don't use up all the hot water!" Marianne reminds him. That's another thing about the past. She has learnt the hard way when the water ran out while she was conditioning her hair.

As she expects, Erik doesn't take all that long. He emerges fresh from the shower, damp and naked waist up. The damned metal bender only has a modest towel wrapped around his waist. Despite his obnoxious personality, Erik has a very attractive body and Marianne is not exactly immune to it. But she pretends to not let him affect her otherwise and instead busies herself with collecting her pajamas and essentials.

Of course, the rather eccentric person that she is, the first thing that she notices when she enters the bathroom is the lack of steam and foggy mirrors. _That's strange_. Erik did just have a shower. Did he not use any hot water? She pushes all her weird thoughts away as she climbs into the tub.

* * *

"You're awfully quiet tonight." Marianne says when she can no longer stand the silence.

She's positive that it has at least been an hour since Erik has been sitting on his bed, back against the board, looking pensive. Or brooding.

"I didn't realise I have to speak."

She pads across the floor and climbs onto his bed. She sits cross-legged in front of him. He watches her warily as she leans over to him, her eyes wide and curious. Unexpectedly, she reaches out and takes the knife that he has hidden under his pillow. His hand reaches out to stop her, but it merely phases through.

She looks at him amused. "Planning on murdering me in my sleep?" She scoots herself closer to him.

"That depends if you continue to annoy me."

"I'll try my best not to then." She examines the knife and her fingers trail along the inscription. "What does this mean?"

There is a pause before he answers her. "Blood and honour." He gauges her reaction as he continues. "I took that from a man I killed." He waits for her to flinch, or to at least look at him in horror and disgust. But she does neither.

"Why did you kill him?"

"He knew Shaw."

"So you kill everyone connected to Shaw?" It comes up neither as a question nor a statement, but something in between.

"No, but he was a Nazi soldier. He got what was coming to him."

His memory comes flooding back into her and she slowly reaches for his left arm. She pushes the sleeve back and lets her fingers brush across the numbers 214782 tattooed across his arm.

He clenches his fist. "I was a boy." There is silence for a moment. "And Shaw killed my mother when I couldn't move the coin."

A silver coin, one with an eagle and Nazi insignia, floats towards Marianne and lands onto her open palm.

"I could have saved her. But I didn't." He pauses, his fingers brushing across hers as he takes back his coin. "And then Shaw experimented on me, to see the extent of my powers." He then regards her, holding her gaze steadily.

"Make no mistake. I am going to find Shaw. And I will kill him."

* * *

"Wake up." She hears a familiar voice. "Marianne, wake up!" And she is brought back to the real world, not the horrible memories that she has been stuck in. She opens her eyes and sees Erik hovering above her. She lets out a few breaths before she phases herself back up on the bed. She props herself up and then combs a hand through her hair.

"Are you alright?"

She nods her head, choosing not to speak. It's a good thing he woke her up on time. She would have given the inhabitants below a nasty surprise otherwise. Erik passes her a glass of water and she accepts it, taking a small sip. He sits down on the edge of his bed and observes her.

"I'm okay. It's just a nightmare." She isn't sure who she's trying to convince. "I'm sorry for waking you up."

"It's not a problem."

"You should get back to sleep." She looks down at the clock and frowns. "It's still early."

"And what about you?"

"I don't think that's going to be such a good idea." The glass of water looks untouched as she puts it on the bedside table.

"What did you dream about?"

She looks at him, unsure if she should confess. "Ask me again another time," she finally decides.

He does not push her. And he completely surprises her instead with his next few words.

"Would it help if I were to hold your hand?" There is no mockery or sarcasm in his tone; his offer is genuine.

"I don't know… Maybe." They watch each other for a while before she decides to crawl over to his bed, tucking herself under his blankets. She doesn't wait long before he joins her and he slips in under the covers. They lie side by side and he reaches out first to take her hand. She gives it a little squeeze of appreciation before she closes her eyes and lets fatigue take over.

"Marianne, wake up." She hears Erik's voice again, but she pays him no mind and twists to her other side, burrowing her head on the pillow. "You need to get up." He shakes her shoulder and she responds by swatting away his hand. "Marianne, we are leaving soon," he says impatiently.

"Okay okay! I'm up!" she says, although her eyes are shut and her head is still buried onto the pillow.

"Marianne!" his voice edging to a final warning.

She suddenly sits up and their heads collide.

If Marianne is still sleepy, the pain in her temple has definitely woken her up.

"Ouch… That's gonna leave a bruise." She opens her eyes to see Erik clutching his forehead. He glares daggers at her, as though it was all her fault. She rolls her eyes at him. If it's anyone's fault, it's his. She was sleeping so well until he woke her!

 _Wait, what? OH_. "I slept!" Her eyes are suddenly wide with disbelief. "Oh my gosh! I actually slept! Without any nightmares waking me up!" She then looks over at Erik. "Well, you don't count."

"It's good to know that one of us actually had a good night's rest. Get dressed. Charles and Darwin are waiting for us." She finds herself rolling her eyes again at his bossy nature.

* * *

"I did tell you not to eat it."

She can't help but shoot a look of resentment at Erik. She's already miserable enough and he's not making things any better for her. Her stomach continues to churn and protest. That pie really did not agree with her.

 _Oh gosh_ , her stomach churns painfully, and she slaps her hand to her mouth. "I think I'm gonna puke." At her announcement, Erik immediately pulls the car at the side of the road. She barely makes it out of the vehicle when she lurches forward. But nothing comes out. It's that lousy feeling you get when you want to puke your guts out but can't.

She barely notices Erik behind her as he gathers her hair and holds it back with one hand. And they stay in that awkward position for a while; she bending over as she tries to hurl without success.

"I think I can't puke."

"You have to throw it all out. You'll feel better afterwards."

"I can't." She slowly stands back up, accepting the handkerchief from Erik.

Of all the times to get food poisoning… She really has all the bad luck in the world. They are due to find their next mutant held at a government prison. But in any case, she's not in a very good state now to break him or her out of jail.

"Annie, are you alright?" Charles asks, concern laced in his voice.

"I've been better. That was some nasty pie." She then musters up a glare at Erik. "And stop saying I told you so! I'm miserable enough as it is."

Thankfully, she doesn't really have to break anyone out of prison. Charles, having other tricks up his sleeve, somehow manages to get the boy, or well, 18 year old, Alex Summers, released instead. Marianne briefly wonders if Alex's related to Scott; they do have the same last name.

Despite her food poisoning – thank goodness it's only a mild case, Marianne takes to the younger boy immediately. He's a good a kid, winding up in prison only because he had no one to help him control his powers. He even chose to be kept in solitary confinement so that he wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone.

Alex does remind her of some of the younger students back in the institute. She misses them, those kids. Actually, make that _sometimes_. And it's only when she doesn't have to do damage control and clean up afterwards. Those kids sure get in an awful lot of trouble.

* * *

"Aren't you going to eat?" She isn't really surprise to see Erik already eating breakfast at the CIA lounge. The metal bender is an early riser. In a few hours, they are going to set off for their final recruitment. Sean Cassidy is the previous mutant that they have recruited, finding the boy in the aquarium trying to impress a girl. It's quite cute really. Sean is young – the youngest they have recruited.

For a moment, Marianne frowns. The mutants they are recruiting seem to get younger and younger. She's not very comfortable with this but she's going along with Charles and Erik for their last recruitment.

"I'm not really hungry," she finally replies as she takes a seat opposite him. Her nightmares have returned. The same ones that never get old. It's starting to get frustrating really. They've completely ruined her appetite! And she loves food. It says a lot when she cannot even bring herself to eat.

"But you should still eat something."

She purses her lips and holds Erik's eyes for a moment. The man sure is annoying this morning. Maybe she should annoy him too. She leans forward and then takes his toast, eating from the unbitten portion.

"Happy?" she returns the half eaten toast onto his plate.

"No, that's my toast."

"You said to eat something." She sticks her tongue out at him.

"How juvenile."

Just to wanting to irritate him further, she reaches for his toast a second time and tears another bite from it. She throws him a smirk as she leaves the table, taking Erik's breakfast with her.

* * *

They enter a bar and Marianne has to hold back a giant smile when she sees _him_. He looks exactly like he did back in their time, which of course makes sense. Logan's healing abilities keep him from really aging.

Logan is seated by the counter and smoking a cigar as Charles and Erik approach him. The two have left her behind by the door. Why is she not surprised?

"Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr," she hears Erik introduce himself to Logan.

"Charles Xavier," Charles injects.

"Go fuck yourself."

 _Now, that was unexpected_ , Marianne thinks as Erik leads her away from the bar.

She contemplates briefly if she should go in there again to convince Logan otherwise. She ultimately squashes that notion of hers. She really shouldn't change too much of the past. Who knows how that will affect the future where they came from? If Charles and Erik can't convince Logan, then she better just leaves it at that. But then again, just by being here in the past, they have probably already messed up their future.

Argh. Time travelling is really very complicated.

* * *

"Plane leaves for Russia in an hour," Moira tells them as they stride through the corridor. The CIA has just gotten intel that Shaw is meeting with the Russian Defense Chief in Moscow. Moira has already met with the Senator to get clearance for all of them to come along and apprehend Shaw.

"I'm telling you, these kids are not ready for Shaw," Erik says.

"I have to agree with Mr-I-can-bend-metal here," Birkhoff adds.

Charles look at Birkhoff in surprise. "Birkhoff, I thought of all people, you would be supportive. After all, you and Marianne were younger still when you both first started in this line of work."

"But we had training Charles," Marianne interrupts. "These kids haven't. They're young and inexperienced."

"Well I think they're going to surprise all of you," Charles responds. "They're an exceptional bunch of young people."

Birkhoff looks at Charles skeptically as they approach the courtyard where loud music seems to be blasting away. Heck, the statue at the centre of the grass square has been blasted off.

"What the hell?" Moira exclaims while Marianne lets out a sigh. It seems that Raven and the others are all but a little drunk, dancing to loud dreadful music and showing off their powers.

"Come on! Harder! Harder!" Darwin encourages as Alex hits him with a bat.

Birkhoff nudges for Marianne to do something. But Moira beats her to it.

"What are you doing?" Moira barks at them, effectively getting their attention. "Who destroyed the statue?"

"It was Alex," Hank immediately confesses.

"No," Raven cuts in. "Havok. We have to call him Havok. That's his name now. And we were thinking, you should be Professor X," she points to Charles. "And you should be Magneto," she points to Erik.

Under normal circumstances, Marianne – and probably Birkhoff – would have marveled at the fact that she has just discovered how the two iconic mutants back in her time get their codenames. But unfortunately, the urgency of the Shaw situation has left her anything but amused.

Charles is wrong. They are not ready to face Shaw. And they shouldn't have to. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why Marianne and Birkhoff are here. So that these kids can remain young and innocent for at least a little while longer. Marianne is not completely naïve to the world, although she sometimes behaves as such.

"Exceptional," Erik remarks sarcastically and leaves.

Moira shakes her head in disbelief and follows Erik.

"I expect more from you." Charles tells Raven before he leaves as well.

Marianne looks at the younger mutants. They look disheartened and thoroughly chastised. The three older ones have been a little harsh on them. But there really isn't time for Marianne to do damage control now; the plane leaves in less than an hour.

She throws them her kind smile – the same one that she uses on the younger students back in the institute. "Get these all cleaned up alright? And be careful with the glass. Don't hurt yourself. We should be back by morning." She gently squeezes Raven's shoulder for comfort before she turns and leaves the compound.

"I think one of us should stay here," Marianne says to Birkhoff as they hurry to catch up with the others.

"And be one person short of fighting Shaw? We're already squeezing it tight as it is. Who knows how many more minions that guy has?"

"You're right," Marianne sighs. "And they're not exactly children. This place should hold while we're out."

Little does Marianne know, how wrong she is.

* * *

 **TBC.**

* * *

 _A/N: Thanks again to my beta Goddessofwoman._

 _HisLordFluffiness: Thank you for leaving me your reviews. This chapter should clear up her powers. Marianne technically comes from the future with the revised timeline (after Logan saves everyone in Days of Future Past) and of course, it also has my own spin in it which will be revealed in future chapters. ;) I hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	4. Chapter 4

_HUDSON46: Thank you for your lovely reviews. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Because I too love Erik - well the Fassbender edition anyway. Who doesn't love him? And there aren't nearly enough stories out there about him finding love and happiness. I just had to dabble and try my own version._

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOUR**

One would think that you would at least be warm after being squeezed at the back of a small truck with nine other men. Well no… That's not the case for Marianne. Moscow is just so _damn_ _bloody_ cold that Marianne wonders if she can ever be warm again.

There is a rapping sound and Erik and Charles turn to open the wooden ledge that separates them from the driver.

"We got a problem," Levine, the other CIA agent with Moira, informs them.

"What?" Charles says.

"I'm so sorry. This wasn't on the map." Moira hurries to explain the situation. And it's not looking good for them at all. There is a checkpoint up ahead and the there's no doubt that the truck will be stopped and searched. Of course, it'll all just end up in one bloody mess when the Soviets find a truck full of armed U.S. soldiers.

"No matter what happens, act normally," Charles suddenly instructs. It seems that the young professor– bless the man– has a plan! "I'll take care of this, all right? Now, listen to me…"

Marianne can feel the truck slowing down before coming to a complete stop. They have just reached the checkpoint. She can hear dogs growling. There's an exchange in Russian, but Marianne does not understand. Then, the faint sound of the front door opening can be heard. The Russians must have told Levine to disembark. They are probably going to search the truck now.

Quietly, Marianne reaches for the hands of the two sitting closest to her – Erik and Birkhoff. This is Plan B– at least if Plan A fails– she can save her best friend and the person who can do the most damage.

Erik gives her a nod and squeezes her hand in what he probably means as reassurance.

Marianne then turns to Birkhoff, who is trying to get her attention by shaking her hand. _Annie_ , he mouths. Marianne frowns, trying to lip read.

 _What?_ She mouths back.

 _YOU. CAN. PHASE. THIS. WHOLE. TRUCK._ He mouths slowly to her while making some hand gestures.

Oh. Right. She can do that. How can she forget? Time travelling sure messed her brains up. But then again… She's suddenly uncertain. She hasn't tried it here yet. What if time travelling messed up her powers too? Crap. She should really stop second guessing herself.

"Whoa, whoa," Charles interrupts her moment of self-doubt as he tries to calm the trigger-happy soldiers down. "Easy, Easy, take it easy, chaps."

Giving Birkhoff a nod that she understands, she lets go of his and Erik's hands, and grips onto the wooden seat instead. Perhaps he too doesn't have the confidence in her being able to phase the whole truck and its occupants, because Birkhoff then decides to grab on to her arm at the last moment. He also quickly motions for Erik to do the same but the metal bender does not quite get his gesture.

 _No matter_ , Marianne thinks.

She hears foot steps and she gets ready to activate her power. She can't use it now or their guy will never be able to open the back door; his hand will just phase right through. And that will just create more problems for them.

The doors open and Marianne holds her breath in trepidation.

Charles' mind trick must have worked. Because the Russian does not see them. Even Levine looks confused for a moment.

The doors close and everyone lets out a sign of relief. Erik pats Charles' leg a few times; Charles did great just now. They continue driving as far as they are able to before having to ditch their ride and hike the rest of the way to the Russian Military Retreat.

They set up their stakeout some distance away from the villa, hiding among the shrubs and bushes. Marianne settles herself beside Erik and he passes her a pair of binoculars. It's a waiting game for now; they have to wait for Shaw to make his appearance.

From a distance, they hear a helicopter flying above them, landing in front of the Russian estate. Marianne looks into the binoculars, seeing a lady in white walking past the Soviet guards and heading straight into the compound. There's no one else.

"Where's Shaw?" Erik finally addresses the issue.

"I don't know," Charles responds. "But if she's a telepath and I read her, she'll know we're here. Let me try something else."

Marianne returns to her binoculars, leaving Charles to his abilities. She observes quietly as the Soviet Chief walks out of the house to greet the woman in white. _Emma Frost,_ Marianne deduces.

"He's not coming." Marianne shifts her attention to Charles, who has just confirmed her suspicions. "So what now boss?" Charles turns to Moira.

"Now nothing," Moira simply replies. "We're here for Shaw. Mission aborted."

"The hell it is." Erik moves to get up.

"Erik," Moira tries to reason with the metal bender. But Marianne already has an idea of where this is going to go. Erik is rather single minded. He will stop at nothing to get to Shaw and he will make do with what he has.

"She's his right-hand woman. That's good enough for me."

"The CIA invading the home of a senior Soviet official? Are you crazy?"

"I'm not CIA," Erik smirks, his eyes flickering briefly to Marianne, gauging her reaction. But she already expects this.

"Erik!" Charles yells the same time as Marianne instructs Birkhoff. "Stay with them!"

She runs after Erik, taking the shortcut by phasing through the trees and shrubs. She won't be able to catch up with him otherwise. Erik is fast and already has a head start. She passes through several soldiers whom Erik has already taken down with his powers. Some look like they are in pretty bad shape but Marianne does not have time to check.

She phases through the gate and finally catches up to Erik at the front porch. He has just disabled two more guards.

"We should wait for Charles," Marianne says, near breathlessly.

But the metal bender is particularly impatient today. He throws his hands out, forcing the door open with his powers. He stalks into the mansion, like a feline about to pounce on its prey. Marianne hardly has to do anything as Erik steadily and effectively knocks out the Soviet guards one by one with his powers.

Although he seems to have completely disregarded her, Erik does slow down enough for Charles to catch up to them. And the three of them are greeted by a very strange sight upon bursting into last room.

The Soviet Chief is… Well, Marianne isn't exactly sure how to describe what he's doing. He is making the strangest of noise as he's…cuddling air?

"Nice trick," Charles says and they all look to Frost, perched on the sofa and ready to strike. Unfortunately, as soon as he says it, the Russian snaps out of whatever daze he's in. He gives them a look of bewilderedness before he shouts something in Russian at them and at Frost. Marianne is pretty sure that the Russian did not just say 'welcome to my humble abode' or the like because he then pulls out his gun at them.

"Got to sleep." Charles reacts quickly and does another of his mind tricks.

Perhaps Frost is waiting for this opportune to strike as she jumps to her feet, changing into her diamond form."You can stop trying to read my mind, sugar." Marianne glances towards Charles who suddenly flinches. "You're never going to get anything from me while I'm like this."

 _No, but she's definitely up to something_ , Marianne thinks. And she's right. Frost makes a bolt for it, dashing towards them. Fortunately, Charles and Erik are quicker still and both are ready for her. Marianne observes quietly as Frost is caught and dragged to the bed post. Erik bends the metal around to restrain her.

"So then you can just tell us. Where's Shaw?" he demands. Frost ignores him, choosing instead to struggle against her metal binding. Erik, not one of patience, straps a piece of metal from the bed around her neck.

"Erik," Charles cautions as Erik tightens the metal around her throat. "Erik, that's enough!" But Erik does not loosen his hold. If any, he increases his chokehold on her.

Worried that he might actually strangle her to death, Marianne decides to also intervene. After all, they can't interrogate a dead person. "Erik, that's enough please." Marianne moves in front of him. She grasps his hand, searching his eyes for some sort of rationality. He finally looks down at her, and she holds his gaze. Her eyes are pleading for him to stop. "Erik, please."

She sees a small nod, it's real small but it's there. He agrees and releases his hold. Marianne turns around just in time to see Frost return to her human form. She lets out a small sigh of relief. Crisis averted.

"All yours," he motions to Charles. "She won't be shifting to her diamond form again. If she does, just give her a gentle tap." Erik moves to grab himself a biscuit. He offers her one as well but she shakes her head.

As Charles starts to scan Frost's mind, Marianne settles herself on the settee beside Erik. The metal bender has truly made himself comfortable by helping himself to the Scotch.

 _Oh to hell with it,_ she thinks as leans over to pluck the Scotch from Erik's hands. She can feel his eyes on her as she drinks from his glass. _This is actually good stuff_ , she thinks after taking a sip, the whiskey moving smoothly down her throat. She briefly contemplates bringing the bottle back. It wouldn't do to waste such good alcohol. And she definitely needs the booze.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Marianne snaps out of her thoughts as soon as Frost begins to speak.

"This is worse than we previously imagined," Charles frowns. "We're taking you with us. CIA will want to question you themselves," he tells Frost.

"I doubt it. They have bigger things to worry about right now." It's probably the alcohol speaking, but Marianne just wants to punch that pretty little smirk off Frost's face and make her ugly.

* * *

A headcount is the first thing that Marianne does as she takes in what happened at the facility. Her heart immediately sinks.

 _Two are missing._

She swallows the bile going up her throat as her eyes search the remaining kids automatically for any injuries. They look visibly shaken but other than that, they seem to be physically unharmed.

She releases a breath that she's holding and her mind wonders to the two who are missing. She doesn't want to think the worst, but it's really hard to be positive right now. The CIA facility is in a mess; the dead bodies of agents are littered all around.

 _It's a massacre; they did not stand a chance._

She casts her eyes away from the corpse of that agent in black–she never did get his name. He was good. He was their ally. He was on their side. But he's gone and it's all just a bloody mess now.

"We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately," Charles says.

"I'm not going home," Alex tells them.

"What?" Charles asks.

"He's not going back to prison," Sean asserts.

"They killed Darwin," Alex spits out. No one mentions Angel. But she sees from their faces that death is not all that they experienced last night.

 _A betrayal… A betrayal from a friend._

Angel left them. The girl left with Shaw.

"All the more reason for you to leave," Charles says to them. "This is over."

"Darwin's dead, Charles. And we can't even bury him." Raven interrupts.

"We can avenge him." Erik watches Marianne as he speaks. He does that a lot–watching her. What did he say again? Avenge Darwin? Her frown deepens.

"Erik, a word please." Charles pulls Erik to the side. But she can still hear them. "They're just kids."

"No. They _were_ kids," Erik corrects. "Shaw has his army. We need ours."

She can't help but to feel hypocritical of herself. She started when she was even younger than them. So why doesn't it sit well with her for these kids to join them? Maybe this was what the others felt of her then. Maybe that's why they always looked out for her especially.

Charles relents, logic and rationality probably winning out. They really do need help against Shaw. They need a _team_. He turns to them. "We'll have to train. All of us. Yes?"

"Yeah," Alex is the first to agree.

"We can't stay here. Even if they re-opened the department, it's not safe. We've got no where to go," Hank speaks out suddenly.

"Yes we do," Charles is quick to reply, and rather confidently too.

Marianne and Birkhoff look at each other. They know where they are going.

 _Home._

* * *

Well, _home_ does look a little bit different now. There's quite a few things missing. The extended garage, the basketball and tennis courts, the swimming pool etc.… The mansion hasn't gone through the extensive renovations yet to turn it into their school. But nevertheless it is still their _home_. And Marianne and Birkhoff are glad to be back.

"This is yours?" Sean cannot help but to ask Charles as everyone stands outside to admire and gawk at the Elizabethan country house. The old X-mansion is really still quite an impressive sight.

"No," Charles corrects. "It's _ours_."

"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived, living in such hardship," Erik tells him, sarcasm rolling off his tongue.

Although Marianne manages to reign in her laughter, Birkhoff falls short and instead comes up with a ridiculous choking noise.

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me." Raven comes to Charles' aid. "Come on, time for the tour."

The mansion has remained uninhabited for quite some time. But the nine of them are quick to work together, removing all the white covers from the furniture.

As the rest are finally left to their own devices – the younger ones doing an exploration of the mansion and its grounds, Marianne is all alone in the kitchen, taking note of pantry inventory.

The task has fallen onto Marianne, seemingly that no one else is interested to take charge of household matters. She does a raid on the last cupboard and lets out sigh. They really do need groceries; there's nothing in here. But who can she rope in to go to the supermarket with her?

Erik enters the kitchen at the right moment and Marianne smiles. _Perfect._

"Hey Erik." He gives her an expectant look. "You're here just in time. Catch." She tosses him the car key and his quick reflexes does not fail her. But he does raise that darn brow of his again at her. "You're coming with me." Marianne all but declares. "We're going to do some groceries. Unless of course you plan on starving everyone for the next few days." She gestures to all the empty cupboards.

"I'm sure Charles wouldn't let it come to that."

"He won't." She hums in agreement. "But you're still coming with me. You're not going to pass this one out." She hooks her arm around his and drags him away to look for Charles.

They really should let the telepath know that they are leaving the estate so he wouldn't worry. Well, that and they do need some dough and directions to the nearest supermarket. It's not like she can google for it.

It isn't that hard to figure out that Erik is not one for idle chitchat. The car journey has been quiet. Marianne figures earlier on that Erik really doesn't need help with directions. So she sits silently while making a list of items that they need to purchase. Shopping for nine people is not that simple. She has to make sure that she buys enough to feed the lot of them.

Grocery shopping with Erik is a quite a pleasant and thankfully uneventful affair. And by uneventful, she means that they both get back to the mansion in one piece. She is really not hoping for much.

Erik pushes the trolley and quietly follows her around as she goes through each aisle, retrieving everything on her list. The two of them must be quite a sight, buying enough food to feed an army, no pun intended. But an elderly lady takes it the other way.

"Just moved in to the neighborhood?"

 _You can say that._ "Why, yes," Marianne replies with her award winning smile that always seem to charm the old ladies. Meanwhile, Erik remains silent beside her.

"Oh, you two are such a lovely couple. How many children do you have?"

"Come again?" Did she just hear the old lady wrong?

But before the lady can repeat herself, Erik moves to put his hand around Marianne's waist. He throws the stranger a quick smile and interjects before she can speak.

"It's been a pleasure talking to you, but my _wife_ and I are in a little bit of hurry. We can't really leave our children behind for too long."

"Yes, who knows what sort trouble we'll find them in when we return home," Marianne chimes in, meanwhile raising a brow at Erik. He shrugs it off.

"Why, of course," the elderly says to them kindly. "Don't let me keep you. It's just that, it isn't every day that you see a husband helping with the groceries. You're a good a man." She regards Erik.

"I know," Marianne gushes, completing the charade by leaning in against against Erik's shoulder in an affectionate manner. "I'm lucky to have married him." She throws Erik a knowing smile and he returns it with a rather stiff one.

"We'll be leaving now," Erik nods curtly at the old lady.

"This way to vegetable section, _husband dearest_ ," Marianne tells Erik when he leads her in the wrong direction. He removes his hand from her as soon as they get away from the old lady's line of sight. Marianne cannot help but to be amused at the metal bender's sudden discomfort. But she decides to give him a break. "Pick up some vegetables, at least three different kinds. I'll get the milk and then we can go," she tells him.

She gives him a simple enough task. Or so she thinks, until she comes back to check up on him and the vegetables that he has selected.

Cabbages, cauliflower, cucumbers. _REALLY?_

She throws him a look of disbelief. It's like he knows all the vegetables that she doesn't eat and picks them all out on purpose. And cucumber is not even a vegetable; it's a fruit!

"Are we done–what's wrong?" He catches her frown.

"Haven't you heard the song about cabbages?" And when he gives her a blank look, she breaks into the Pocahontas tune. " _Cabbages, cabbages, barely even tasty! Cabbages, cabbages, stab them with a fork! They're not like other veggie! Which means they must taste awful! We must drive them with our forks_!"

He looks at her incredulously, as though he can't believe that she has just started singing in the middle of a supermarket. Thankfully for him, it seems that the other shoppers pay them no heed.

She lets out a little sigh of exasperation. "Okay, never mind. Let me just pick out a few more vegetables."

* * *

 **TBC.**

* * *

 _A/N: Thoughts anyone? Cabbages cabbages! They're not even tasty! I chanced upon the cabbages parody of the Pocahontas song 'Savages' online and it just stuck to me. It's been years- mind you- and I still can't get it out of my head. I tried finding it again but I just couldn't find the original that I saw. There are other versions out there though. Feel free to leave any of your thoughts behind..._


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Birkhoff wakes up to freshly baked muffins and crispy bacon waiting for him in the kitchen. Of course, Marianne – in all her goodness and wonderfulness – has woken early to cook a glorious breakfast for all of them.

He isn't too surprised either to see Erik already seated by the kitchen island. Marianne has mentioned to him in passing that the metal bender never seems to sleep past sunrise. How Marianne knows that, Birkhoff has no clue.

"I would like my eggs scrambled, please," he automatically tells Marianne as he rubs his palms together and helps himself to a big helping of bacon. How he loves that salty and fatty goodness that just absolutely melts in his mouth.

"There's already perfectly fried eggs in front of you," Erik suddenly says to him.

Birkhoff spares a quick glance and shrugs. "Don't really like sunny-side-ups," he replies as he takes a large bite of his cheese muffin. He nearly misses that look of annoyance that Erik throws at him. _What's his problem?_

"Then I suppose you should do your _own_ cooking. I'm sure you wouldn't want to further _impose_ on Marianne considering that she has already done so much."

"Nah, she wouldn't mind. She's been doing it for us for ages," Birkhoff says offhandedly, oblivious to the darkening looks of Erik.

"Erik, it's fine." Birkhoff looks up to see Marianne placing a hand on the metal bender, who looks so positively livid that Birkhoff wonders if he has done anything wrong. Erik appears like he's about to say something but Marianne is faster still. "Friends impose on each other all the time."

"Oh hell yeah," Birkhoff agrees. "God knows how many times _she_ imposes on me," he points his fork at Marianne.

Marianne merely roles her eyes as him as she starts to whip up some eggs. Erik turns contemplatively silent, albeit he is still staring at Birkhoff with that glowering expression.

"Eat up, nerd," Marianne says fondly as she comes over with the pan of freshly cooked eggs and slides them over to his plate.

* * *

It's the start of training after breakfast. Erik is up first with Charles, the latter hoping to see the extent that he can push the metal bender.

Marianne watches the two men from a nearby window. While Charles is kept busy with Erik, Marianne decides to do a little of her own training with Raven in hand-to-hand combat.

It seems that the current Mystique has yet to learn how to fight and the task has now fallen onto Marianne to train her. The thought of it is quite strange really. Who would have thought that it would fall on Marianne to teach Mystique how to fight?

They don't have much time before Shaw makes his move. But they'll have to make do with basics first. It's better than letting Raven into the battlefield unprotected.

Marianne is well versed in krav maga as well as a little bit of kali. Of course, _Natasha_ has also trained her in other forms.

Raven finally arrives at the gym in a tank top and sweat pants. Her blonde is tied up in a low ponytail. Marianne leads the younger girl towards the mats.

"Okay, first things first. Let's see your stance." Raven resumes a fighting pose while Marianne tries to correct it. "Do it like this. That's right. Bend your legs a bit more so you'll have better balance. Okay. Now always aim for the soft spots. Meaning, eyes, nose, ears, jaw, throat, groin etcetera. Now watch me. I'll attack you and…well watch how I move. I'll try to go slow and easy."

Perhaps Marianne starts off a little too strong. Because she knocks Raven off her feet and Raven returns to her blue natural form. Raven looks at her, eyes wide and looking a little scared, as though Marianne would be disgusted by her appearance. Almost immediately, Raven changes back to her blonde persona.

Marianne can recognise the insecurities of the young girl.

She approaches the girl and helps her back to her feet. But poor Raven seems to be terrified to look at her in the eye now. Marianne slowly reaches out and touches Raven on her cheek, drawing the girl's full attention to her.

"You know, I have this mutant friend back home. He's naturally blue and a little fury." Marianne smiles at the thought of Kurt and – oh wait! She forgot about Hank. "Actually make that two. There are two of them." Raven looks at her curiously and Marianne withdraws her hand.

"Birkhoff and I always hang out with them. Well, Kurt mostly since he's closer to us in age." Marianne pauses for a moment as she remises the past. "The two of them taught me one of the most important lessons in life." She then looks into Raven's eyes very seriously. "Beauty isn't about having a pretty face. It's about having a pretty mind, a pretty heart, and most of all, a beautiful soul."

Once more, Marianne reaches out to caress the younger girl's face. "You _are_ beautiful Raven."

"Even like this?" Raven turns back to her natural blue form.

"Even like this," Marianne strongly affirms. "And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Because you _are_ beautiful. You're just not looking properly." Marianne wipes the stray tear away from the girl's natural blue face.

"But I am also not going to lie to you," Marianne continues. "People who don't know you may ridicule you. Because, as unfortunate as it is, that's just human nature. We tend to be prejudice against anyone who is different. Prejudism will always exist because society is not perfect. Even one day, when mutants are accepted into society, there will probably still be other forms of prejudism." Marianne pauses to take a breath.

"But this does not give us reason to look down on ourselves or see ourselves differently from others. Because at the end of the day, we are all the same. We hurt just like everyone else; we bleed all the same. We just need to work towards creating a better future. It won't be perfect, but it will be better."

Marianne wipes another stray tear before pulling Raven into a hug. And she holds on to the girl for sometime, providing her as much comfort as her presence can give.

It is Raven who pulls away, after she composes herself.

"Shall we go back to training?"

Raven nods her head.

"Good. Now let's resume."

"Wait – like this?" Raven gestures to her natural self.

"Yes. Now, that I think about it, if you're using half your concentration on your appearance, you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing." Marianne suddenly throws in a punch and Raven deftly dodges. Marianne smiles. "You see how better you are? I wasn't even holding back."

Raven smiles back.

* * *

Lunch hasn't been a simple affair as Marianne thought it would be. Leaving Alex and Sean in charge of making the midday meal has not been one of her smartest decisions. Apparently, even with all the ingredients laid out just for the two boys to make the sandwiches, something can go _off_ somewhere.

Marianne is quick to notice Erik to be the only one to finish the deconstructed sandwich. In fact, he is the only one to polish up his entire plate. Perhaps he has very questionable tastes in food. Because lunch, at best, can only be called edible.

As rostered, Erik and Marianne stay behind after lunch to clean up and wash the dishes. They make quite an effective team. Erik has taken it upon himself to soap, while leaving Marianne to do the rinsing.

"You and Birkhoff seem…close," Erik suddenly comments, surprising Marianne a little bit.

But she answers him easily. "Yeah, we are. Both our fathers were Military, so we sort of grew up together."

"Your father served in the military?"

"Yeah, he did."

"Did?" Erik's voice suddenly sounds a little bit strange and Marianne realises the implication of her words. They are in the post war era now. Erik probably thinks her dad died in World War II. Although, the truth merely is that her dad went into early retirement in order to help run the family business.

"Yes, he retired after…the war." Hoping to steer the conversation away from her, she quickly asks him instead. "What about yours? What does your father–" She stops herself, realising belatedly that this is might be a touchy subject for him. "I'm sorry. I didn't really think."

Erik gives her a sad smile, but he decides to answer her anyway. "My father was a World War I veteran." That is all the information he gives and an uncomfortable silence falls between them, or so Marianne thinks. But Erik continues. "So when did you first realise you can walk through walls?"

Feeling thankful for a change in topic, Marianne starts off. "When I was fifteen. I had a nightmare and woke up in the basement. You see, I phased all the way down from my bedroom. Thought I was sleepwalking at first until my parents noticed that my sheets and pillow were phased halfway through the ceiling. But thankfully my uncle Tony knew some people who could help–" she stops, unsure of how much to divulge to him. "–and I learnt to control my abilities."

"You had training. That was what Charles said back at the CIA facility." Alarm bells start ringing in Marianne's head. Erik is coming close to a pretty dangerous topic. "He mentioned that both you and Birkhoff had prior experience in dealing with people like Shaw."

"Yes," Marianne answers carefully. "Birkhoff discovered his powers shortly after I discovered mine. So we were sort of enrolled together."

Erik regards her with this odd look on his face that she simply cannot understand. "Good," he finally says. "Because we will need people with experience to deal with Shaw."

* * *

It seems that they are not making as much progress with their abilities as Marianne hoped. Erik's power of magnetism is sill largely powered by his anger, Hank still has some issues letting himself go into full beast mode, and Sean only has enough control to shatter glass.

And then of course, there's Alex, who can't control his power at all. Period.

So here she is now, in the underground bunker that Charles' stepfather had built to withstand a nuclear bomb. Perhaps there is something she can do to help speed up their learning process...or something.

"Whenever the both of you are ready," Charles regards both Marianne and Alex, before closing the doors of the bunker on them.

It's dangerous for anyone to be same room with Alex when he is using his power. Well, anyone except Marianne. He can't hurt her as he can't touch her.

It took a couple of fire extinguishers and three destroyed mannequins for Marianne to finally realise the problem.

Alex's power is similar to Scott's. And back home, Scott has the ruby quartz to help him manage his power. Why has she not thought of this before?! She's such an idiot sometimes.

With both Birkhoff and Hank briefed on their next task, Alex is allowed to take a breather and Charles moves on to the next student.

Unfortunately, poor Sean is a little apprehensive on what Charles has in store for him next.

Hank, in all his ingenuity, has built a special set of wings for the boy. Although, it definitely cannot be compared to Sam Wilson's more technologically advanced wings. They are in the past after all.

Everyone gathers to watch as Sean makes his first attempt at flying. Charles and Hank help Sean into the special harness.

"Are you sure that this will work?" Sean asks Hank skeptically.

"Anything is possible. I based the design–"

"Hank, stop talking," Charles interrupts Hank as he finishes up with the buckles. "Come on," he leads Sean to the window.

Alex, Raven, Erik, Birkhoff and herself are watching from a distance in anticipation to see if this will work out. The five of them look rather comical with their heads sticking out the other window.

"Now remember, scream as hard as you can," Charles instructs Sean, who's sitting on the windowsill and is looking every bit apprehensive.

"You need the sound waves to be supersonic. Catch them at the right angle and they should carry you," Hank explains futher.

"They should carry me?" Sean says nervously. "That's reassuring."

"Good luck. And don't forget to scream," Charles tells him.

Making the sign of the cross and taking a deep breath, Sean prepares himself.

Marianne knows it's mean of her but she cannot help but to laugh out loud when Sean falls off the window with a pitiful wail, and lands face first into the bushes below. Even Erik, who normally has such a stone face, is laughing.

"That went well," Birkhoff is always the first to make a quip.

"There was hardly enough time for him to produce the sound waves. Perhaps we should try this again from a greater height," Hanks says.

"Like the satellite dish?" Birkhoff adds.

"Yes, that should work," Hank replies.

"We can try this again tomorrow," Charles says. "It's getting late."

* * *

The time after dinner is usually the period for him to brood by himself. Today has not gone accordingly to his plan. He has hardly made any progress with his power, despite Charles' attempts to help him.

Still, this is all new to him. He's never had anyone to help him before. He has never had any friends. That's right. _Friends_. That is another new concept for Erik. He's always been alone. That is until he met Charles and… _Marianne_.

The both of them, more than anyone else, know about him and what he's been through.

Charles, because he's a telepath.

He has found a certain camaraderie in Charles. But unfortunately, the man is a pacifist and naïve to the reality of the world. Unlike Erik, Charles has never suffered prejudice and persecution first hand. So he can't see that being mutants will be no different. Identification, that's how it starts. And ends with being rounded up, experimented on, eliminated. Only Erik will know, because he has lived through it.

And finally, there's Marianne.

He doesn't quite know what to make of her. She confounds him the most and he can't figure out for the life of him why he has told her so much about his past. There's just something about her. The way she looks at him. The way she can be comfortable being around him despite all that she has learnt about him. He's Frankenstein's monster and yet…

 _Knock knock._ His thoughts are interrupted by two knocks at his door.

"Knock knock!" Marianne's chipper voice follows suit. She enters before he can put any word in. "Figured you might fancy some dessert?" She comes barreling in with a tray full of cakes and tea. "Would you prefer chocolate or strawberry?" she asks as she sets up the table in front of him.

"Either is fine." Erik resigns himself to her company. It does look like she's here to stay as she hands him the strawberry cake and settles herself on the other armchair.

He takes a bite, and before he can take another, she interrupts him. "How is it? Is it any good? Let me try." She leans over and promptly takes a swipe at his cake. He looks at her incredulously. "Mhmm, it is good! Here, try the chocolate one. It's good too."

"Why are you here, Marianne?" Erik asks instead, putting his plate back onto the table.

"Do I have to have a reason for wanting to spend time with you?" Her response catches him off-guard, and he is struck speechless. "Alright, I'll admit it– everyone else is occupied with something. You're my last hope before I do something drastic just to pass time."

Erik pinches the bridge of his nose. Will it really be so terrible to have some company tonight? He sighs in resignation.

"Do you know how to play chess?"

The sudden spark in her eyes makes Erik regret ever asking her.

"Yes, and I also happen to know where Charles hides all the good liquor. Give me a sec–" Before Erik can even stop her, Marianne hops _into_ the nearest wall. But he doesn't have to wait long before she materialises through the opposite wall with a bottle of bourbon in hand.

"We usually pair bourbon with poker together," she says as she waves a bottle that appears to be even older than she is. "But chess is fine too."

* * *

"You have got to be cheating!" Marianne says exasperated as Erik once again checkmates her king. "How can you be so good at this? You're playing handicap!" For the past few games, Erik has played – and won – without a queen. She takes another swig of whiskey. She's hardly drunk, perhaps a little intoxicated, but not so drunk that she can't possibly not win a single game!

"Maybe you're just hopeless at chess?" She sees myrrh sparkling in his eyes. Perhaps the alcohol is getting to him too. Have they really finished half the bottle?

"I am not! I would have you know that I'm quite apt at strategy and at games in general." She is adamant in proving herself. "Let's play poker! I'll beat you in that!"

"I don't think so. Your face is very easy to read."

"Try me," Marianne challenges. She'll surely beat him in that. She hardly plays chess, but she's the queen in poker back home.

"Alright," Erik agrees, but not without a condition. "But let's make this more interesting– strip poker."

"You just want to see me naked, don't you?" Marianne teases him with a smile. "You're on!"

A couple of rounds later, the both of them are down to their undergarments.

"Can you beat full house?" she asks him.

"Straight flush."

Marianne purses her lips. Erik gestures for her to take off another article of clothing.

"Ah, so that's counted now?" he remarks as she takes off her gold necklace instead.

"Hey, whatever's on you counts," she retorts. She's not going to be taking of her bra or panty…yet.

With a wave of his hand, her necklace flies into his hand. Erik studies the pendant as he traces his thumb across the gold cross.

"You're religious," he finally points out.

"Yes. Aren't you?" she looks at him a little uncertain.

"No." He returns the necklace back to her. "I turned my back on God a long time ago."

* * *

 **TBC.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Zerousy: Nah ah! Nothing happened in the previous chapter! But perhaps something might for this one... *evil glint in the eye* But thank you for leaving your review. You're the only one to leave your thoughts and I do love to hear hear hear thoughts from everyone. Now on with the chapter! Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed playing this out in my head. (I have all these ideas in my head but it's so hard to put them down into writing.)_

* * *

 **CHAPTER SIX**

Marianne wakes up to a terrible ringing sound. She groans as she reaches for that little noisy ancient thing that they call an alarm clock in this day and time.

 _Argh._ She's definitely not feeling up to it this morning to get up. Of course she is paying for it _now_. This is usually what one would get for drinking way too much alcohol the night before. Her body is aching all over and all she wants to do is just to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately for her, there is a long day of training up ahead. She will never hear the end of it if Charles finds out that she got herself so wasted. After all, she's supposed to be one of the responsible adults around –after him– and set a good example.

Wait, who is she kidding? The man's a telepath. He probably already knows what she and Erik have been up to last night.

She makes her way to the kitchen still feeling totally wretched even after that long shower. But she supposes she'll make it through the day. It feels only like yesterday that she was back in Julliard. Despite partying and drinking like mad the night before, she was still able to turn up sober for class the next day. Well, _more or less_ sober.

 _Those were the good old days…_

She reaches the kitchen and is surprised to see Erik already there having breakfast, looking rather fine and dandy. _Argh. That man sure knows how to hold his liquor._ And she thought she was good.

Then again, she thought she's good at poker and look what happened last night! She was supposed to hand his sorry ass on a silver plater, but when it came right down to it, it was a draw! A DRAW! And not to mention their game of chess where he practically wiped her out!

She sits down across him and props herself up with one arm, resting her head on the back of her hand.

"You're looking mighty fine this morning," Marianne all but grumbles.

Erik merely raises a brow as he pushes his plate towards her. She doesn't hesitate picking up a piece of toast and starts nibbling on it.

"Aren't you?" He smirks at her.

She scowls at him before reaching for his fork and stabbing a piece of fruit.

"Ah, there you are." Charles suddenly pops into the kitchen. "You two are running a little late this morning. You're usually up earlier than this," he remarks but doesn't wait for them to respond. "But it doesn't matter. If you're both done with breakfast, we're going to get Sean to try flying again. Meet the both of you at the satellite dish in a few?"

"Yeah, sure. We're done here," Marianne quickly replies as she returns her half eaten toast back onto the plate and makes a move to get up. "We'll catch up with you there."

As she prepares to depart, Erik's commanding voice all but stops her. "Take your breakfast with you." She turns to see Erik throwing her a look of disapproval.

She eyes the remaining piece of bread. _Right._ Signing in resignation, she reaches for her breakfast.

"Happy?"

"Ecstatic," he deadpans.

* * *

Perhaps it's not such a good idea for her to have come up here and be this high up. She may be _somewhat_ sober, but she's nowhere near being focused enough. She looks down over the rail bars and is instantly pulled back by Erik. It's a good thing too because she is pretty sure that she would have taken a tumble down from the platform otherwise.

They are now standing at the highest point of satellite dish. By 'they', it's just Charles, Hank, Sean, Erik and herself. They're currently trying to get Sean to fly. It hasn't worked out so well the day before, but Charles and the two nerds are confident that from a greater takeoff height, Sean will be able to fly.

But the harness does have some metal bits in it, so if push comes to shove, she supposes that the metal bender, who is still not relinquishing his hold on her, will be able to do _something_.

"You truly believe I'll fly this time?" Sean asks for the umpteenth time.

"Unreservedly," Charles does not skip a beat in his reply.

"I trust you," Sean turns to Charles.

"I'm touched," Charles tells him.

"I don't trust him," Sean adds.

"Say nothing," Charles interrupts before Hank can utter a word.

But it seems that Sean's nerves are getting to him. "I'm gonna die!" the boy exclaims.

"No you won't," Marianne tries instead to assure him. The sooner he learns how to use his powers to fly, the sooner they can climb back down. She makes eye contact with Charles who nods his head at her. "Look, we're not going to make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with, all right?"

"Here let me help." Before Marianne knows it, Erik pushes Sean off the platform with his free hand.

"Erik!" she and Charles shout incredulously at the same time. She then turns to smack Erik on the chest.

But it seems that that little push is exactly what Sean needed. Sean screams and his power carries him off and lets him take flight.

"What? You know you were thinking the same," Erik smiles smugly at her.

If she hasn't been able to focus before, Erik's little stunt has just made her fully sober.

* * *

He doesn't really understand that feeling, he doesn't even know that he's capable of feeling that way for someone. But he panics when he doesn't see her waiting at the bakery.

Despite the irrationality of it all –he knows her to be able take care of herself– he worries at the slight possibility that she may be in trouble.

He spots Charles walking towards him with their bags of supplies. The three of them have split ways upon arriving in town, to buy the different components that Hank and Birkhoff needed for the containment unit that can help Alex control his powers.

"Charles, she's not here."

Charles throws him a puzzled look, wondering what Erik is going on about. He looks around and finally notices their missing companion.

"Oh, Annie's not here."

"That's what I said, Charles," Erik says with gritted teeth. "Now use your power to find out where she is."

Charles frowns but does as Erik orders. "Hang on there Erik," Charles says as he touches his temple and tries to determine the location of their missing friend. "She's this way." Charles starts walking, knowing that the metal bender will follow.

Charles stops in front of a small quaint white church. "She's in here," Charles says softly. Erik makes a move to go in, but Charles stops him. "She's alright, you know. She's just...feeling a little homesick."

For a moment, Erik falters. And he makes no further move to enter the church. He looks at Charles, wondering if the telepath has anymore things to add.

"Go on in. She could do with some company." Sensing his hesitation, Charles assures him. "Other than Birkhoff, she's closest to you."

Any hesitations Erik previously had, have been pushed aside at the mention of the technopath. He steels himself and walks straight in through the front doors.

The church is empty except for the second last pew where he sees her sitting alone.

He approaches her slowly, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable at entering a place of worship. But he ultimately pushes those feelings aside as he quietly sits beside her.

She turns to him, giving him a small lopsided smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. And that usual spark of mischief that he has come to strangely grow fond of is gone.

"This place hasn't changed at all." She says after a long moment of silence.

"You've been here before then?"

"Yes when I was– _younger_." There's an uncertainly to her last word and she grows quiet again, probably reliving one of her memories. "I guess coming here made me realise how much I really miss home," she finally says.

"But you can always go back, can't you?"

There's another moment of silence, almost too long for his liking, before she finally speaks again.

"Yes, of course," her voice has taken an upbeat turn, almost surprising him with her sudden chirpiness. "I was just being… broody and melodramatic."

She leaves him stunned; he doesn't know how to respond to that. She smiles at him, that mischievously tinkle in her eyes are back. Erik isn't sure quite what to do anymore.

"And now I'm hungry. Shall we grab a quick bite before going back home?"

* * *

The three of them are at the terrace again, working on developing Erik's power of magnetism.

"You see that?" Charles points to the giant satellite dish a few miles away from them. "Try turning it to face us."

Erik throws them both an incredulous look. But Marianne knows what Erik is truly capable of. After all, the future Magneto can raise suspension bridges and lift entire football stadiums off the ground.

Both Charles and Marianne nod at him in encouragement.

Releasing his breath, Erik puts his hands up and tries to use his power to turn the dish. It doesn't work however. He lets out a sound of defeat. But Charles doesn't give up.

"You know, I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity. Would you mind if I...?" Charles wiggles his fingers, signaling that he wants to go into Erik's head.

Erik shakes his head, letting Charles know that he doesn't mind.

Marianne watches quietly by the side. It seems that whatever Charles is doing has an effect on the both of them. A stray tear has trickled its way down each of their faces.

"What did you just do to me?" Erik asks softly.

Charles approaches and moves closer to the metal bender till they are only a metre apart. "I accessed the brightest corner of your memory system. It's a very beautiful memory, Erik. Thank you."

"I didn't know I still had that," Erik replied, clearly still affected by the memory that Charles has unlocked.

Marianne feels like she is intruding, with the way the two men are looking at each other now, and her presence is all but forgotten. It's as though Charles and Erik have come to some sort of an understanding, one that Marianne is not privy to.

"There's so much more to you than you know. Not just pain and anger. There's good to you, I felt it. And when you can access all that, you'll posses a power no one can match. Not even me," Charles tells him. "So, come on. Try again," Charles claps Erik on the arm.

Charles and Marianne watch in quiet anticipation as Erik tries for the second time to move the giant satellite. Marianne sees the unshed tears in Erik's eyes as she hears the screeching sound of the metal infrastructure moving.

Erik has done it. He has moved the giant satellite.

There is a strange sound coming from him and she realises belatedly that it's his laughter. She smiles, honestly happy for him.

Charles joins Erik in his laughter, clapping him at the back. "Well done!" Charles tells him.

Erik then turns back to her and their eyes meet.

"You did it!" she exclaims.

She isn't sure who makes the first move, but she's in his arms the next second.

"I did it," he whispers to her as he envelops her tightly around his arms.

"You really did it!" she affirms, hugging him back.

Neither of them notice what they are really doing until Moira interrupts and they break apart.

"Hey! The president is about to make an address," Moira sticks her head out the window and shouts to get their attention.

* * *

They all gather around the sad little grey box that's unfortunately the most advanced television at this time, as they listen to President Kennedy's speech about the Cuban missile crisis.

Marianne and Birkhoff immediately look at each other. The Cuban missile crisis is history in the making and they are right in the middle of it.

"That's where we're gonna find Shaw," Erik points out.

"How do you know?" Alex asks.

"Shaw wants to start World War III," Marianne frowns. "With two super powers facing off, Shaw will be there. He will not leave anything to chance."

"So much for diplomacy," Erik remarks and turns to them, though his eyes linger on Marianne. "I suggest you all get a good night's sleep." Once again their eyes meet.

* * *

"Can't sleep?"

She nearly jumps from her precarious seat on the white balusters. Erik is on his own balcony – his room adjacent to hers, admiring the plentiful stars in the dark sky.

She is quick to recover and she smiles at him. "It's a little too warm."

"It is." he agrees. "How strange for October."

"Perfect for a midnight swim though." Her eyes are suddenly sparkling with some sort of mischief, no doubt making Erik a little wary. She swings her legs back onto the tiled floor. And Erik watches as she walks through the concrete railings and onto thin air. She appears in front of him, phasing into his balcony. "Are you up for it? I know of a perfect place a short walk from here."

He does not answer her. Instead, he throws his gaze back to the night sky.

"If you're thinking about Shaw, don't let him stop you from living life now." He remains silent as she steps up to his side. "What's coming will come, and we'll meet it when it does." She looks at his back and says in a softer voice. "Shaw's still going to be around tomorrow." Her last sentence is almost a whisper. "Come with me now."

He turns to her and she opens her hand out to him. He takes it as he stares deeply into her eyes. She gazes back into his grey pools. There's something in there. But she can't put it out in words.

"You can't swim." He nearly ruins that moment between them. But he almost makes up for it with his next choice of words. "So I guess I have no choice but to come with you." _Almost._

She cannot help but to smile knowingly at him. Erik likes to think of himself as cold and uncaring. But his actions towards her seem to always prove the opposite. She swings their joined hands merrily. "Alright, let's go!"

Perhaps he knows of her plans to simply phase with him to the ground floor (and he's not entirely comfortable with it), because he directs her back into his room. "Shall we use the door?"

"Why, when we can just jump down?" Marianne cannot resist messing with him. The look on his face is priceless and Marianne has to struggle to keep her poker face on. "It's a lot faster."

Erik stills himself and gives her a nod. "Alright."

She knows her grin probably resembles that of the Cheshire cat, but she does not care. She throws her arms around his neck and slowly phases the both of them down to the lawn below.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I cannot help but feel that _that_ was just a mere excuse for you to invade my personal boundaries again."

"Oh Erik, I thought we've gotten past that already." She takes his hand once more and leads him into the woods behind the mansion. The moon is large and unbelievably bright, illuminating a path for them to follow. She uses her power of intangibility to phase them through the logs, the tree roots, and whatever obstacles that are blocking their way.

"How much longer will it take to get there?" his voice breaks through the easy silence between them.

"Not much." She seems resolved to keeping the quietness between them.

"How did you know of the place?" he squeezes her hand lightly.

"I did some exploring." She throws him a look of mischief and this quietens him for a moment as he ponders on what she is up to.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Worried that I may get us lost?" she raises a brow at him.

"Hardly," he deadpans.

Her reply is a string of laughter. "Do you hear that?" she asks him in her usual chirpy voice. She can finally hear the sound of rushing water and she's hoping that he can hear it too. "We're nearly there." They are greeted by the sight of a small lake with Caribbean blue sparkling waters and a cascading waterfall. "The water's not that deep." She can hear the excitement in her own voice. This place is paradise and her refuge back in the future.

She kicks her shoes away and slips off her underwear. She pays Erik no heed as she lets her billowing white spaghetti strap sundress drop down to the grass. "Marianne," his voice sounds a little strained.

"Come on, it's just you and me." She's completely naked as she slowly lowers herself into the pool. "The water's great, Erik!" She's deep enough that she's no longer exposed and she turns back to see Erik still dressed up. "Aren't you coming in?"

When he finally makes a move to remove his clothing, she returns her gaze back to the waterfall and starts swimming towards it. She clings on to one of the rocks nearby to keep herself afloat. Erik isn't too far behind her. He's fast and she's awful at swimming.

"What do you think?" The water isn't all that deep for Erik; the level reaching only up to his shoulders. She paddles towards him, her arms quickly wounding around his neck as their naked bodies are pressed together. His hands automatically reach out to snake around her.

"Truly stunning," he says and she turns to meet his eyes. It's as though time has slowed down at that particular moment. "Perfection," he whispers.

He leans in and Marianne slowly gravitates towards him. Their lips meet; it's a small chaste kiss. He pulls back to look into her eyes once more. And he goes for the plunge, closing his eyes as he deepens the kiss, taking more and more of her each time. One hand supports her head and the other around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

* * *

 **TBC.**


End file.
